The corruption trial of former Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao and three others begins in federal court today in Oakland. KALW spoke with East Bay Times reporter Nathan Gartrell, about what’s at stake.
GARTRELL: "Basically, the U.S. Attorney's Office is expected to lay out allegations or evidence of an illicit scheme involving the California Waste Solutions company, which the City of Oakland already had a contract with, as well as several other Bay Area cities, and also a relatively younger company, called Evolutionary Homes, which purported to try and manufacture, basically, mini high-end, tiny homes, or mini-condos, whatever you want to call it, for the homeless.
"And the alleged scheme basically involved benefits to then mayoral candidate, Sheng Thao, who became the mayor, who was engaged in a tight election at the time. And they agreed to try to help her win. And she agreed to help get them contracts, essentially, which is what they're saying.
"And there was another sort of cherry on top, which was payments to her significant other, Andre Jones, allegedly involving about $100,000 in money that went to him, as well as a promise of a $300,000-a-year job, through Evolutionary Homes."
